Well, Happy New Year to Ya !!

It's 2009! That sounds so crazy to me. I can't believe our sweet Gaby will be two in less than two weeks! So to finish off the holiday season, we headed to Houston for New Year's Eve and then spent the weekend just hanging out at my parent's house. We rang in the New Year with Byron's best friend from forever, Bryan Parker, and his lovely wife, Missy. We had an amazing meal at Pappa's Bros Steakhouse and then went back to their house for a little party and lots of champagne :)

Here are some of the fun things Gaby did this weekend.
Dancing w/ Pito...

Helping Tio Billy & Carlos put together a grill... Chilling with Carlos...
Walking around in Mommy's shoes...
Enjoying Pito's massage chair...
Learning about make-up...
And teaching Pita about make-up...
Then having deep conversations about make-up...
We headed back home on Sunday ready to get back into our regular routine. With the new year upon us we are looking forward to what's ahead and look back on what a very fun year we've had watching Gaby become such a fantastic little girl. It's indescribable what joy and happiness she's brought to our lives!

My Mommy !!

Byron likes to play this little game with Gaby where he comes up to me and gives me a big, long hug and lots of kisses and says "My mommy!". Well, that makes our little cutie a bit upset and so she tries to push him off of me, grabs my face, wraps her little arms around my neck, gives me tons of kisses and says "No! My mommy!". Which as you can imagine is about the sweetest, most wonderful, heart-warming thing any parent can EVER hear!!

I just love that game :)

Might not be the best thing to teach someone who might have a sibling in the future, though.

We're so proud of Daddy !!

This article was published in this month's Seton Family of Hospitals Network newsletter. Look who's starting to become an important fixture in the Austin medical community...

Gaby & I could not be prouder :)

Our favorite Christmas Present...

Gaby made this shirt a school with a tag that reads "Mommy & Daddy's best gift" !!

Isn't that sweet??

Christmas 2008

We had a lovely Christmas. We actually got to stay put this year and had everyone come to us, which was very nice for a change.

My whole family came up from Houston and we enjoyed an awesome Christmas Eve meal.

Gaby's pretty Christmas dress... We spent the rest of the day waiting for Santa...

Byron was "on call" the whole week and was actually busy, so that made him a little "scrooge-y"...

Our afternoon project- to build a gingerbread house. The kids started off enthusiastically but after about 15 minutes gave up b/c it wouldn't stay together. So the adults took over and had fun finishing up for them....
They did come back after it was put together to add some finishing touches, though...

Then it was movie time for the kids and the adults hung around, drinking wine and chatting away. We nixxed our usual tradition of opening presents after midnight on Christmas Eve b/c of Gaby but let the kids open one gift that night and then went to bed to get ready for the big day.
Christmas morning was a blast!

We had a huge breakfast and watched the kids go crazy opening gifts. Gaby's big gift from Santa was a very cool retro red play kitchen which was an absolute hit!!

Is it really mine??

" Would anyone like some mac & cheese?"
Turns out my little sweetie loves to cook just like her mommy. She has played with it non-stop since she got it. (I think Santa was very pleased about that!) The princess definitely got more into opening presents this time. I think the trial run in Orange helped :) She was having so much fun ripping off the paper and she was so utterly adorable with her commentary. Everything got an "oh boy" and an "ooooh" and a "wow". She learned very quickly from the big kids how to enjoy the art of opening presents :)
Gaby got so many great toys this year that will for sure enhance her playing experience :). She was having such a blast with all the kids around. This year we were not only joined by Lulu, Carlos and Susana but also by Billy's girlfriend's daughter, Lauren. The house was full of noise and laughter and it was truly awesome! Gaby was up to her usual singing and dancing being the center of attention self- I just love that! Christmas Day we literally stayed in our pjs all day watching movies, playing with our new toys and just enjoying each other's company.

That night we went to see the 37th street lights. It's a neighborhood that REALLY takes their Christmas lights seriously and has all sorts of funky displays. Very Austin-y :) It was pretty cool!
We had a super fun Christmas this year and feel so blessed to have had our family in Austin for our first "official" holiday in our home. We are looking forward to see what exciting things 2009 has in store for us!!

Christmas in Orange (the city not the color)

It's so fun when you can prolong Christmas for a whole week :) This past weekend we headed to Orange to celebrate and early Christmas with Mimi, Papa, Aunt Can, Uncle Stevie and, of course, my precious niece, Mia. We drove in late Friday night so that Saturday morning we could pretend it was the "big day". The girls woke up to lots and lots of goodies stacked under, around, next to and in front of the tree! Can you guess what their big gift was this year??
That's right, tricycles! And they looved them!


The also received great Dora tailgating chairs. Uncle Steven is already teaching little Mia the art of the tailgate (as he is an avid Aggie tailgater) and was happy to show Gaby the ropes. Now all they need are a couple of beers...
Speaking of Uncle Stevie, Gaby had a very weird affinity for her Uncle this weekend. We're not sure what it was- maybe the bald head, maybe the facial hair, maybe his big round cheeks- who knows but she sure was lovin on him alot. It was so cute!
Mimi has already learned that when she's at the store she needs to go ahead and buy two of EVERYTHING! And good thing she did because our little sweeties still have not mastered the fine art of sharing yet and it was so nice to say "this one is Mia's and this one is Gaby's". We had the yummiest of non-traditional holiday meals- homemade fried chicken & mashed potatoes. Soooo goood!! And the girls also decorated some Christmas cookies....
They managed to decorate them with what they didn't eat themselves. Don't they look yummy??
We had lots of fun this year with the girls and their presents although I still think they didn't fully get the concept yet. Next year should be a doozy!

Aren't they the cutest??

Swim Update

I just got some recent swim class pictures so I thought I'd post a little "swim update". Gaby is doing awesome with her lessons! A few weeks back, she was starting to show a little anxiety or maybe just lack of desire getting into the water with Coach Carla. But luckily, that has passed. Now that I look back, I think it probably had something to do with her sinus infection and her just not feeling well. Lately, she's been doing great and has been eager to get into the water and swim with her friends. They are working on turning over on their backs midswim, taking a breath and then going back under. And standing on a platform in the middle of the pool, jumping off and swimming to the wall. Anyhoo, we continue with our Olympic aspirations....

Gaby's swim class buddies- Tripp & Reese!! And on that day- Max!

Gaby's really taken to her two swimming pals, Tripp and Reese. They are both almost three and don't mind hanging out with someone a little younger :) Lately, Gaby & I have been joining Tripp and his mommy, Elizabeth, for doughnuts after class. Yum! Our next semester (X-treme Waterbabies) starts in January and unfortunately, Tripp and Reese will have to leave Gaby behind as they will move on to the older kids class (Aquatots). She will definitely miss them!

Goofy Daddy!

Every night Byron and Gaby goof around together and rough house before bedtime. They jump on the bed, tumble, attack each other, play hide and seek, and she rides on his back. They are just so cute together and they sound like they are having the time of their life. No one makes Gaby squeal with excitment like her Daddy :)

Not quite in the Christmas spirit yet...

Yes, I paid $23 for this picture of my kid crying because, well, I'm not sure why. Maybe we'll get a giggle out of it later when she's an adult? Maybe it's because I have an obsessive need to capture every single moment of her life?? Needless to say, she wanted nothing to do with good 'ol Santa this year. Even though we were talking him up all day and she even seemed very excited while we were in line to see him. Oh, well! I AM super excited about the really pretty dress she has on. It cost waaay more than I normally spend on Gaby's wardrobe so you'll be seeing alot of it ;)

The Family Ham :)

This past weekend, I sat back and watched something so neat for a parent to see. Over Thanksgiving, my daughter was a complete and total ham! Now, the reason this is so surprising to me is because I was (and, I know, at times it's hard to believe) painfully shy during my formative years. I was always hiding behind my mom's legs and would always just sit next to her anywhere we went and never left her side. And Gaby is like that a little when we first get around new people, so I just assumed she would be shy with sooo many new people to meet. And she was a little shy at first....But goodness gracious, the kid just broke out of her shell and was so funny around both families. She laughed and yelled and danced and ran around and often was the center of attention. It not only made me laugh but it really made me just soooo proud of her for having such a sweet and outgoing personality.

"You talkin about me???"

Thanksgiving Week Slideshow

Dancing Queen !!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Sorry. I haven't neglected the blog for this long in quite a while....Whew! Where do I begin? We made our way east and north and then back again for Thanksgiving. We started off the holiday festivities with a baby shower in Houston for our good friends the Pagets last weekend. We got to have an adult night out with a bunch of my old college friends. There was great conversation, yummy food, funny laughs and an abundance of Bellinis:)

That Sunday we celebrated and early Thanksgiving with the Salazar gang. Gaby has a blast running around with her big cousins and we gorged on my brother's most scrumptious fried turkey and all the fixins. Byron left us that night to come back to Austin to work for a few days but Gabs and I were lucky enough to stay in Houston to hang out a little longer. Pita and Pito were thrilled to spend a few more days with the princess.

Tuesday night Candie & Mia and Gaby & I headed to Orange to break up the looong trip to the farm in Louisiana. We hit some major traffic and made a Cracker Barrel pitstop that turned our two hour trip into a four hour experience! The girls tried their best, but really weren't excited to be trapped in their carseats for so long. We sang and watched movies as much as we could only to have them fall asleep 10 min before we arrived. Mimi and Papa were so happy to see their grandbabies but only little Mia had the energy to stay up to play with them for a little while. Gaby was in no mood to be disturbed from her beauty sleep :)

The next morning we were off for another two hour drive into Louisiana. That trip was great and we finally arrived at the farm where we were greeted by some very friendly and much anticipated cows! It was so funny to see how excited those two munchkins got over a bunch of stinky cows. They would just repeat over and over and over- "moo-cows", "hi, moo-cows". So cute! The girls and our two little boys (Rosko and Ozzie) just looved all the open space at the farm and were constantly wanting to be outside running and exploring. That night Byron finally joined us and we were only missing Uncle Steven who had some new house business to attend to back in Katy.

Thanksgiving day was basically an eat-your-weight-in-food day with back to back family get togethers. First, we went to MawMaw's house with Mimi's family and then back to the farm where Papa's family came to us. As usual, there was so much delicious food around and we were all in alot of pain after such amazing feasts! It was so good seeing all the aunts, uncles and cousins again and finally being able to be a part of the family activities.

Friday, we headed back to Orange to spend a couple more days with Mimi & Papa. Gaby and Mia seemed to really enjoy each other this visit. They would actually play together, color, build blocks, read books and sing & dance together. They were sooo cute dancing together!! We also had a few races where little Mia showed her athletic prowess and left Gaby eating dust. (When Mia runs it's head down, shoulders up and away she goes. When Gaby runs it's like Phoebe in Friends- unorganized, arms in the air, waving to people as she passes.) We had many a giggle watching them. I got some great video to come later...

Sunday we headed back home with a pit-stop in Katy to see Candie and Steven's new home (Gorgeous!). So now we're back home, getting settled back in and ready for the craziness, that is Christmas, to begin. And I just want to say, how thankful I am to have such a wonderful family and a beautiful, healthy, amazing little girl. We are so very lucky for all that we have and all that we get to do. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Life is good:)

On your mark, Get set, Gooooo....

Tomorrow, we're off. We'll be gone for a whole week. It'll be a Houston/Orange/Louisiana whirlwind. We'll see if I can blog on the road. Otherwise, it'll be while. Happy Thanksgiving, my friends :)

The Never-Ending Cough

Almost three months. That's how long our poor sweetie has had her cough. It's one of those you-need-to-clear-your-throat coughs. The rumbly, gunky kind. Gaby's been on three different antibiotics these last few months and it gets a little better for a couple of days, but then comes back again and has never fully gone away. So, on Monday we went back to the pediatrician and she took a couple of x-rays of Gaby's head and we got a very clear view of Gaby's left sinus full of gunk! And her left ear was also pretty infected. Apparently, Gaby's got a very resistant bug that doesn't respond to traditional meds. So the next step was a Rocephin antibiotic injection for three days straight-yikes! Today, we went in for the last dose. Let me tell ya, that shot looks soooo painful! It's a huge dose and it looks pretty thick. I can just imagine how terrible it feels going in. Poor kiddo has been a real trooper but they make her leg so sore she limps for a few hours afterwards:( She does seem better today. And now has to do yet another week's worth of an oral antibiotic-Bactrin. Hopefully, these meds do the job. I feel like we've hit it with everything we've got!